"The NRA vs. Obama" - Hollywood stars join fight for gun rights

By A.W.R. Hawkins

With the 2008 presidential election upon us, the National Rifle Association is making their case against Barack Obama. They unflinchingly describe him as “the most anti-gun presidential candidate in American history” and have dedicated large sums of money to exposing his anti-gun agenda.

An in-depth look at his record justifies their position. Not only is Obama the economic socialist Rush Limbaugh has said he is, he is also a gun-banning associate of 1960s radicals who cannot wait to take away one of America’s greatest freedoms - the right to keep and bear arms.

The NRA points out the fact that Obama supports handgun bans while Obama frequently excuses himself by saying he supports the Second Amendment but believes states, cities, and municipalities should be able to regulate types of handguns and implement local restrictions. (This convolution is an example of the type of reasoning he uses to explain how he can both find handgun bans and the Heller case, which banned handgun bans, to be “reasonable.”)

But Obama has missed the NRA’s point on this one. They are not simply saying he supports the kind of bans we’ve seen in D.C. and Chicago; they are saying he supports a complete ban on the manufacture, sale, and possession of a handgun. And they are right. On March 31, 2008, the Politico revealed that “Obama endorsed a complete ban on all handguns” in a general candidate questionnaire he filled out on September 9, 1995.

This is why the NRA keeps telling people that Obama talks out of both sides of his mouth. On one hand, he says, “I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms,” while on the other he supports a complete ban on the arms they would bear.

Click here to read the entire story at HumanEvents.com.

Since late last week, the NRA has been running ads featuring Chuck Norris to drive home the point about the threat Obama presents to the Second Amendment.

The Norris ad has been running in 10 battleground states - Colorado, Nevada, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In the ad, Norris touts the Second Amendment and warns against politicians who say they support gun rights, but whose records prove otherwise. NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox says the ad is running on both broadcast and cable stations.

An Outlaw's Worst Nightmare

Another fresh NRA commercial uses a mailer from Hillary Clinton's primary campaign to reinforce Obama's double-speak on gun rights.

Hillary Clinton mailer

Another ad featuring Hollywood star Gerald McRaney, has been circulating the Internet for the past two weeks. While not an NRA commercial, it easily could/ should have been:

Joe the Hunter

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One of those is an unreported major Republican National Committee radio buy in eight key states: Colorado, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

The buy is interesting because it includes some states expected to be in McCain's column by this time (Montana, North Carolina and West Virginia, for example), but also because of the message of the 60-second spot: gun control.

The ad, which is part of the RNC's Independent Expenditure campaign that has been run by OnMessage Inc., a Republican media, polling and strategy firm, raises an issue that some strategists believe has mistakenly been underplayed by the McCain campaign.

"If Barack Obama becomes president, your Second Amendment right to defend yourself could be in danger. In fact, in Illinois, Obama voted to prosecute law-abiding citizens who used a gun to defend themselves or their families," says a narrator in the RNC spot.

"Obama supports local governments to ban guns," the radio ad continues. "Obama wants to license and register gun owners. Obama opposes judges who protect our Second Amendment right."

The ad, which is airing on stations that have a variety of formats, isn't being run in major markets (such as Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri), but is being aired heavily in rural areas and smaller markets (such as Joplin, Springfield and Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for example).

The spot's message surely will resonate with conservative Republicans and could help with turnout among those partisans. But the major target audience appears to be conservative Democrats, many of whom have leaned toward Obama recently because of economic fears and uncertainty but surely are closer to the GOP's positions on cultural issues.

Interestingly, the ad also could help GOP candidates for the House and Senate, since they too are losing those same conservative Democratic voters. You can bet that it's no coincidence the ad is airing in North Carolina, which has both a Senate and a gubernatorial race as well as a hot House contest, and Missouri, with a race for governor and two key House contests.

There are also multiple hot House races in rural areas of Ohio, where the spot also is running.

Washington Times: Gun owners fret Obama White House

The nation's gun owners have the presidential election in their sights.

Some are up at arms about the prospect of future gun legislation should Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama win the White House. Others are beefing up their personal arsenals, skittish that firearms could become scarce or too expensive in the near future.

"If the economy is down, and gun sales are up, it shows you just how deep-seated the concern is out there about the situation," said Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association.

"Most gun owners at least until recently have been misled by Senator Obama. Though he claims to be an advocate for the Second Amendment, his voting record in the Illinois Senate says otherwise. He voted for a bill that would ban nearly every hunting rifle, shotgun and target rifle owned by Illinois citizens," Mr. Pearson continued.

"His campaign has done a good job burying his take on firearms," he added.

Hal Goldstein, owner of the Armory gun shop in Annapolis, said, "People should be scared."

...Not all gun owners are leery of Mr. Obama. He has the endorsement of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), a Maryland-based group that describes itself as mainstream hunters without "a radical agenda."

Mr. Pearson, however, buys none of it.

"This is all just a propaganda mill. And the American Hunters and Shooters Association is a leftist, elitist group." he said. "They're a front for the Brady Campaign [to Prevent] Gun Violence." The Brady Campaign also has endorsed Sen. Obama's candidacy.

...Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has launched get-out-the vote drives, including lawn signs that read "I'm a 'bitter' gun owner and I vote."

"We're arming gun owners, who are a very loyal voting bloc, with the facts. And it's a fact that gun control has become a political liability. Senator Obama is spending millions trying to camouflage his take on the issue," said NRA spokesman Chris Cox.